Girl · Germanic (Old English and Old High German) · Christian
Hilda
HildaSay it HIL-duh
- Meaning today
- Battle woman, warrior
- Original meaning
- "war, battle (Old English poetic hild)" Bosworth and Toller, p. 535
- Say it
- HIL-duh
- Other spellings
- Hild, Hylda
Hilda
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Hilda meaning
Hilda is a Christian girl's name of Germanic origin (Old English and Old High German).
War, battle (Old English poetic hild)
Also used to mean: battle woman, warrior
Hilda is built on the old Germanic word hild, "war, battle". Bosworth and Toller record hild in Old English poetry with that sense, and the Online Etymology Dictionary explains the German name as "battle-maid". The same element appears in Matilda, Brunhild and Hildegard. The name became Christian through Saint Hilda (Hild) of Whitby, the seventh-century abbess who founded Whitby Abbey and hosted the Synod of Whitby in 664; the poet Caedmon belonged to her community. In India it is used in Mangalorean, Goan and Anglo-Indian Catholic families.
Source: Bosworth and Toller, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898), p. 535 · entry hild · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Bosworth-Toller, hild · Online Etymology Dictionary, Hilda · Britannica, Saint Hilda of Whitby
Famous namesakes
- Saint Hilda (Hild) of Whitby, 7th-century abbess
Spellings
Hilda · Hild · Hylda